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Life Coach Shares Success Secrets

Rosetta Thurman conducts most of her business remotely from her coworking space in Honolulu | Christina O’Connor photo

In 2010, Rosetta Thurman quit her job at a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., to pursue a consulting business that focused on leadership guidance for nonprofit workers, which she had been operating on the side. Trading job security and a good salary for the great unknown of entrepreneurship, she admits, was an intimidating venture. But, in the end, she figured that not trying to go after what she really wanted was even scarier, and she launched career-and life-coaching business Happy Black Woman.

“I decided just to challenge myself and step out … and go full-time speaking, coaching and consulting,” explains Thurman, who lived in the Islands for several years as a teenager and moved back last year.

Initially, Thurman focused on leadership development for nonprofits. As time went on, she found herself also sharing the story of her own journey – and how she was able to pursue her ideal life. Wanting to empower other women do the same, she expanded her services to include programs designed to bolster personal development and entrepreneurship for women, which is Happy Black Woman’s focus now.

“The first step in getting anywhere, and what I help my clients do, is to figure out where you’re going,” Thurman explains. “When people say, ‘I don’t know what I am doing,’ it really just means that they haven’t taken the time to really think about what they want.

“By writing it down and visualizing it, people say, ‘This is what I want, and there is this gap.’ So we work on the gap.”

In addition to helping clients identify their goals, Happy Black Woman also holds them accountable for working toward those goals. Programs include weekly accountability check-ins. For budding entrepreneurs, for example, weekly tasks may include creating a website or ordering business cards.

Happy Black Woman also offers a number of online workshops, discussing topics such as launching a business, setting powerful goals, and public speaking.

For Thurman, part of creating her own ideal life was to move to Hawaii, where she had attended middle and high school.

“It is a place that promotes happiness for me,” she says. “I have always felt like it is home.”

In order to move to the Islands, Thurman had to ramp up her online efforts and establish a global network of customers. Social media has become a crucial aspect for reaching clients – she has even booked events through Twitter. Her social media philosophy is to “be real, share what you have and engage with people.”

Since launching Happy Black Woman, Thurman has been invited to speak at events across the country. In September, Happy Black Woman will host a Honolulu retreat. Participants must register online at happyblackwoman.com.

While her clients’ needs vary, Thurman guides many of them to do what she did: Build a business around their passion. Her advice to fellow entrepreneurs: Be clear on why you want to launch your business. “You have to ask yourself, ‘When your business is successful, what will you be able to do?'”

Another piece of advice? For entrepreneurs who are thinking about quitting their day jobs, save money.